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Progressive Conservative candidate Doug Holyday won a high-stakes byelection on home turf in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, the Tories’ first win in Toronto since the late 1990s.

The former Etobicoke mayor and Toronto’s deputy mayor, known for his tight-fisted approach to spending at city hall, beat fellow city councillor Peter Milczyn.

“The fact we’ll have someone of Doug Holyday’s calibre in our caucus to bridge the gap between our caucus and the city of Toronto . . . is key, I believe,” Tory MPP Frank Klees (Newmarket-Aurora) said at Thursday night’s gathering of Holyday’s supporters.

Holyday and Milczyn have worked closely together as members of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee, and have rarely clashed on council.

But the fight for the riding took a nasty turn when Ford said he has no problem with Milczyn being on his executive team at city hall, but commented that Milczyn was “running for the wrong party.”

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Sources say Milczyn’s campaign team was annoyed that Ford played such a prominent role in endorsing Holyday in the byelection.

NDP candidate P.C. Choo was never a factor in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore race, nor was Green Party nominee Angela Salewsky.

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